All Change in the House of Windsor?

Do the snaky locks of Medusa run through the British Royal Family?

Could the fixed star Algol and the ingress of Uranus into Taurus in May 2018 herald change in the British Royal Family? Once both the “heir and the spare” are married, could the current Queen of England finally be ready to hand over the reins? Looking at the important dates of Royal upheavals, Alex Trenoweth will explore the possibility of the beginning of the era of a new British monarch as Uranus moves into Taurus on 15 May 2018 on the very day the New Moon is conjunct the fixed star Algol. The Full Moon on 24 October 2018 repeats its connections.

The Death of Harold Godwinson

Embroidery from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the death of Harold Godwinson

One of the biggest scrums for the Royal crown took place on what is now the town of Battle, East Sussex, 8 miles northwest of Hastings.

Central to this scramble for the throne was the death of Edward the Confessor who left no known living heirs. On the king’s death, Harold Godwinson seized the crown. However, with jealous eyes upon him, it was only a matter of time before Harold and his supporters were at war with other contenders, Harold Hadrada and the man who would be the new king, William-the-soon-to-be-Conqueror.

Godwinson died and William conquered as Neptune was at 24 Taurus. This particular degree of Taurus would be very important in the key players and future events regarding the Royal Family. For the moment, look on this event as a major turning point in history: William the Conquerer would go on to change the entire landscape and political climate in England for the next several centuries. In fact, many of his structures are still standing. Check out the Tower of London some time.

England’s Ultimate Bad Boy

Another major turning point in English history was the death of the “dreaded” Richard III the dastardly ward of the Princes of the Tower in the late 15 century. Shakespeare turned Richard III into one of the best villains in the English language. However embellished his badness may be, Richard III really did meet Death on the fields of Bosworth. Thus ending the War of the Roses as well as the Plantagenet family line, Uranus was at 24 Scorpio, opposing the Neptune of Herald Godwinson’s demise.

The end of the Plantagenets was the beginning of the Tudors. And who could be a better Tudor than Elizabeth I (aside from her father Henry VIII)? The “Virgin Queen” died with no heirs when Jupiter was at 22 Scorpio. Welcome to the Stuarts and the Algol connection.

Enter Algol

The “fixed” star Algol, currently located at 26°25′ Taurus, is associated with the Gorgon Medusa. In the myth, Medusa was cursed to have snaky locks of hair and turned all her looked at her into stone. She was eventually beheaded, so the story goes, by the hero Perseus who used a mirror to reflect her image so he didn’t suffer being petrified like his friends.

Astronomically, Algol is a binary star system that gives a sense of twinkling between the eyes of the constellation of the severed head of Medusa which Perseus holds aloft in the heavens. Once a year, the Perseid meteor shower sparkles from the sword of the heavenly hero in mid-August.

Although technically labelled a “fixed” star, Algol moves about one degree every 72 years against the backdrop of stars. Usually only a two degree orb is used for planetary connections. Algol is said to be one of the most feared stars although modern astrologers tend to move away from the associations with headlessness and interpret connections with intensity, jealousy and passion.

Off With their Heads!

A woodcut of the beheading of a Royal Monarch on 30 January 1649. The crowd was said to groan as the axe fell

The most famous and tragic Stuart was Charles I who, beheaded on 30 January 1649, was born with Mercury at 22 Scorpio and his Sun at 27 Scorpio.

History remembers Charles I for his abuse of power and his belief in the divine right of kings to do as they pleased. He tried to force high Anglican practices on a largely Puritan population (this being the group who set sail to the Americas earlier in the 17th century) and generally irritated everyone so much he was blamed for the English Civil War.

After the beheading of King Charles I, his son fled to France during the Interregnum led by Oliver Cromwell. It’s an astrological pity Cromwell’s Venus in the final minutes of Taurus just misses being in orb of Algol. Although Cromwell died of natural causes on 3 September 1658, his body was exhumed on the 12th anniversary of Charles I’s execution. As Saturn was at 22 degrees Scorpio, Cromwell was “posthumously executed” and his head was severed from his body and displayed on a pole outside of Westminster Hall. Interestingly, Cromwell’s head kept popping up in various places and it seems no one conclusively knows of its whereabouts.

The Merry Monarch

Charles I’s son, Charles II who became known as the “Merry Monarch” had Pluto at 21 Taurus. During the mid 17th century, father and son’s Mercury and Pluto would have been within orb of Algol. The current Prince Charles of Wales is presumably named after the beheaded king which is rather nice as they have a Moon-Uranus conjunction in the very early degrees of Taurus.

The British line of succession was also disrupted in 1714 after the death of Queen Anne. King George I, of Hanover, was recruited to be the king of England due to the lack of an heir. George I had his N/S Node on 3 Scorpio/Taurus which, as we saw earlier, is quite relevant to what is going on with the current Royal Family. This King was the grandfather of George III who every American schoolchild knows was the crazy king on the throne when America declared its independence from the Motherland.

The Abdication Crisis

With all the wars and head chopping going on one would be forgiven for thinking that everyone wanted to be a monarch.

Well this would seem to hold true for everyone except Edward VIII who caused a constitutional crisis when he decided to marry Wallis Simpson. Edward VIII had Venus at 23 Taurus, conjunct Algol. His brother George the VI, the father of the current Queen, had Uranus and the Moon at 22 and 24 Scorpio respectively. He ascended to the throne nearly a year after the death of his father on 11 December 1936 when Uranus was a 6 Taurus. His father, King George V, had died on 20 January 1936, hastened by a lethal injection (yes really), when Uranus was at 1 Taurus.

The Algol Connection

Edward the VIII (whose abdication made it possible for the current Queen to take the throne) had Algol conjunct Venus as did Diana, Princess of Wales and her son William. Prince Harry’s Moon is at 21 Taurus, a few degrees out of orb to make a solid connection to Algol. However, the marriage of Charles and Diana took place when Uranus was at 26 Scorpio, directly opposite of Algol. During Diana’s interview with Martin Bashir for Panorama on 20 November 1995, both the Sun and Mercury were within one degree of the Uranus in the wedding chart. In this interview she admitted to infidelity and explained that her marriage to Charles was “a bit crowded”.

The New Generation

The British Queen on her 90th birthday (photographer: Annie Leibovitz, 2016)

Prince George (born 22 July 2013 at 16:24pm) has his asc/dec axis on 27 Scorpio-Taurus. Note transiting the ingress of Uranus into Taurus will square his natal Sun. Princess Charlotte (born 2 May 2015 at 8:34 am) has Mars at 23 Taurus, just a little short of a conjunction with Algol. The latest baby Prince Louis (born on 23 April 2018 at 11:01am) has Venus just a few minutes away from being in orb of Algol.

The “Spare’s” Royal Wedding

Prince Harry exchanged vows with Mehgan Markle when the Sun is at 28 Taurus! Uranus would have ingressed into Taurus just a few days before on 15 May 2018 at 16:16 in London. This means Uranus is transiting Prince Charles’ Moon at 0 Taurus!. The New Moon in that chart is at. . . wait for it. . .26 Taurus on Algol!

Bearing in mind that the last time an American divorcee married into Royalty, it caused an Abdication Crisis, this marriage is something to keep an eye on.

Wallis Simpson, born with the Sun at 29 degrees Taurus just missed the Algol connection. But she and Meghan have a Chiron-Pluto conjunction at 21 degrees Libra which will be in square aspect to transiting Pluto in early 2019. Having somewhat common backgrounds, perhaps Meghan is a part of the healing process of the Abdication Crisis. It certainly seems the British public have warmed to her.

And by the way, Meghan’s Uranus is at 26 degrees Scorpio!

Trump Eclipses the Queen

During his controversial state visit to England, US President Donal Trump allegedly “eclipsed” the Queen of England by appearing to break royal protocol several times. The visit “coincided” with a total solar eclipse on 13 July 2018. During this eclipse, transiting Pluto was exactly on the Queen’s natal nodal axis and opposed the Sun and Moon of the eclipse. Just check out this video:

TheFull Moon 24 October 2018

Full Moon conjunct Uranus on the ascendant in London UK.

Meghan’s pregnancy was announced to the public on 15 October 2018. On the 24 October 2018, the Full Moon was be at 1 degree Taurus, conjunct Uranus and the ascendant set for London! And check this out: Transiting Jupiter was at 27 degrees Scorpio (on Meghan’s Uranus)!

The day before, Queen Elizabeth spoke publicly about Brexit for the first time. During a state banquet for the King of the Netherlands and his wife Queen Maxima, she said that “as we look toward a new partnership with Europe”, the values shared by the UK and Holland “are our greatest assets”.

Uranus

Owing to the retrograde motion of Uranus, it re-entered Aries on the 6th November. This of course means, Uranus will eventually turn direct (6 Jan 2019), re-enter Taurus (6 March 2019) and again transits those crucial early degrees in the charts of the major players in the Royal Family–including Prince Harry who has Pluto at 0 degrees Scorpio.

By the 27th of March, Uranus will be again at 1 degree Taurus which was where it was when King George V died. It will be too early for the arrival of Harry and Meghan’s baby so what other news awaits us?

The central players to this are of course the current Elizabeth II, the Queen of England who has the Sun at 0 degrees Taurus and her heir apparent Prince Charles who has the Moon at 0 degree Taurus. Both will be affected by Uranus moving back and further over their lights. The Queen will be 93 in 2019 and will have been on the throne since 1953. Prince Charles will be 70 on the 14 November 2018. That’s a long time to have been waiting to be King. The problem of course is that the British public don’t seem to have forgiven him for his disastrous first marriage. His own parents didn’t even attend his wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles (although this may have more to do with the Queen being the Supreme Governor of the Church of England).

Camilla

Camilla’s Chiron is at 2 degrees Scorpio and already she’s dropped out of two tours this year, leaving Charles to fend for himself in Australia and Nigeria. She was reported to have said she doesn’t want to take too much on. Could she not be up to the demands of being the royal consort if Charles does become king?

Taurus is a sign not known for its flexibility. With the planet of sudden changes and upheavals transiting the lights of The Queen and her son, the British Royal Family, held for so long in stability by the current monarch, may just be in for a shake-up.

And um. . .the Full Moon on 18 May 2019 is at 27 Scorpio which of course means the Sun is on Algol.

Do you have Algol in your chart? Would you like to know what the Uranus ingress will change for you? Leave a comment!

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Alex Trenoweth, MA, DFAstrolS is an astrologer, teacher and author of "Growing Pains", "The Wolf You Feed" and the soon-to-be-released "Mirror Mirror" by The Wessex Astrologer. She travels across the globe lecturing on the topic of Astrology and Education. In 2015, she was voted "Best International Astrologer" for her innovative research on astrology and adolescence. Her work has been published in major astrological magazines around the world such as Dell Horoscope, the International Society of Astrological Research, the Organization for Professional Astrologers and she is co-editor of "Constellation News", one of the largest astrological magazines on the planet.

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